Adjustable self-aligning bearing



July 28, 1936. F. W. scHEl-FLER 2,048,972

ADJUSTABLE SELF ALGNING BEARING Filed March 29, 1934 2 Sheets-Sheet l11E/v K A.. l d, l

A n who/ ma@ mm July 28, 1936. F. w. scHEFr-'LR v 2,048,972

ADJUSTABLE SELF ALGNING BEARING Filed March 29, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 2X50v/afar.'

Passau .lilly as, laas aquatic seinerseits saar-onine nemo FrederickWilliam Scheer, Joliet, lill.

applic-aum einen 29, 1934i, sensi No. 717,876

6 (Helms.

illy invention relates to improvements in adjustable self-aligningbearings of the type ordinarily supported by pillow blocks and adaptedto reduce friction of a shaft rotating in said bearing. I am aware thatself-aligning bearings for such a purpose have been provided heretofore,and an example of this type of bearing is shown and described in myPatent No. 1,928,114, issued Septomber 26, 1933, on an application filedMarch 18, 1932, and entitled Anti-friction bearing.

Heretofore no adjustable self-aligning bearing has been provided andconsequently when the aligning member becomes worn it is necessary toreplace parts. Such replacement is not only expensive in regard to theprice of replacement parts, out an additional expense is created becauseof the necessary dismantling of the line shaftlng in the plant. Suchlinek shafting is usually ernployed as an intermediate power transferunit between the source of power and the machine which lt is desired tooperate. It can thus be readily seen that such delays entail greatexpense and a great amount of work. Y

My invention makes it possible to adjust the bearing after a period ofuse without replacing any parts and thus keep the shaft in properalignment and free from the vibration which is the direct result ci*weer.

Another object of my invention is to provide a self-aligning searinghaving a large hearing surface carried by the aligning members and Vyetreduce the number of parts ordinarily employed in self-aligninghearings. tion in number of parts my adjustabllity feature still remainsand my many advantages are obrtained at a smaller cost than any previousselfallgning hearings.

Another object is the provision of a self-aligning hearing having agrease retainer formed integrally with the bearing member. Variousgrease retainers have heretofore been made independently of the hearingsand added to the chatting as an accessory. Howevenin my invention thegrease retainer may be formed integrally with or attached to the ball orroller cage. Such construction reduces the number of manufacturingoperations and consequently reduces costs.

Other objects will appear hereinafter.

lt@- invention may be best understood by reference to the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

Fig. l is a vertical sectional view of the preferred forni oi' myinvention;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken substantially on the line 2-2 of Fig.1;

Even with the reducy Fig. 3 is a, vertical sectional view similar toFig. 1, of a modified form of my device; 4

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken substantially on the line d-l of Fig.l3.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the type of ball '5 cage employed in thetype of bearing shown in Figs. 3 and 4;

Fig. 6 is an elevational view of a modified form of bearing having aninternal construction similar tc that of the bearing shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 'l is a sectional View taken substantially on the line '7-7 of Fig.6;

Fig. 8 is an elevational view of the inner bearing sleeve which is keyedtothe line shaft;

Fig. 9 is a, perspective view of the roller cage 15 employed in the typeof bearing shown in Figs;

l, 2, 6, and 7; f y

Fig. 101s a detail view in section of the adjusting bearing member; and

1l is a detail view of the inner aligning 20 end tu and is provided withinternal threads lil for engagement by the external threads Eil of anadjusting aligning bearing member 2l. member El 'is provided with aninternal quasiheinisphericai bearing surface 22, and when the member diis screwed into the internal threads of housing it the bearing surfacel'l and the hearing surface 22 form a bearing surface sub- 35 stantiallylike that which would be provided by a hollow sphere. Theoretically, thecenter for a spherical surface formed by the surfaces il and 22 islocated on the longitudinal axis of a cooperating line shaft 23.

The end wall 2t of the housing I5 is provided with an annular opening 25through which the locking collar 2t is extended. The collar 2li is slidonto shaft 23 and keyed thereto by a set screw bore 2l. placed in anappropriate groove in the wall of annular opening 225 and bytight-hinting engagement with the external Wall of collar 26 prevent theentrance of foreign matter into the spherical bearing surface. slid ontothe shaft 23 from 4an opposite direction and locked to shaft 23 by setscrew bore 3d. A ring 3l similar to ring 28 may be employed in theannular opening 32 in the end wall 33 of the bearing member 2l. 55

The 25 The A protecting ring 28 may be 45 A similar collar 29 may be 50A better understanding or the function of the collars 26 and 28 may begained from an inspection of Fig. 8. A tongue 34 is provided on theinner end of collar 28 and adapted to cooperate with a notch 35 carriedin the outer end of the bearing sleeve member 36. A similar tongue 31 iscarried on the inner end of collar 29,and adapted to cooperate with anotch 38 carried on the Aopposite outer end of sleeve 36. The collars,of course, prevent independent rotation of the shaft 23 with relation tothe sleeve 36 when the parts are in proper position and the set screws39 tightened in bores 21 and 38.

The sleeve 36 is provided with a pair of .oppositely inclinedfrustro-conical roller races 48 and These races 40 and 4I are separatedby an annular band 42 having undercut lshoulders adapted to provide aseparating abutment for opposing roller members 43 and 44.

The individual rollers of the roller members 43 and 44 are maintained inspaced relation' from other rollers of their respective members byappropriate separators or retainers 45 and Y46 respectively. Theseseparators or retainers are provided with appropriate slots 41 as shownparticularly in Fig. 9 and by having the rollers extended partiallythrough these slots there is no binding or crowding of the rollerslagainst each other. The retainers 45 and 46 are frusto-concal in formand at their smaller ends are provided with annular grease retaininganges 48 and 49 respectively. The' flanges 4B and 49 are of suicientheight to span the distance between the cylindrical surface of bearingsleeve member 36 and the inner cylindrical surface of a pair of bearingrings 56 and 5i. The rings Sli and 5I are arranged-in opposed relationto each other and carry internal frustro-conical bearing surfaces;exteriorly, said rings are formed into a curvature concentric to that ofthe spherical bearing surface provided by the interior surface ofhousing I5 and bearing member 2l.

Insome instances it may be desirable to key the rings 5d and 5I to' thehousing I5 and bearing member 2| respectively, so as to prevent rotationof said rings on the longitudinal axis of the shaft 23. Consequently Iform appropriate grooves in the bearing surface I1 and bearing member 2lto cooperate with keys 52 and 53 respectively in retaining said rings byengagement with appropriate grooves in the exterior surfaces of ringsand 5I. When the bearing member 2i is screwed into the open end ofhousing I5 the ring 5I of course rotates with said bearing memberbecause of the key 53. 'I'he rings 5U and 5I remain free to rotate onthe center of bearing surfaces I 1 and 22. After the shaft 23 is inproper alignment and the bearing member 2l is screwed into the housingI5 the proper distance, a set screw may be tightened into threaded bore54 for the purpose of locking the bearing member 2l securely to thehousing I5. A threaded bore 55 in the upper end of housing I5 may beemployed for the purpose of forcing lubricant into the interior of thebearing. An appropriate plug may be employed for closing the bore 55.

Referring now to Fig. 3 a single instead of al duplex typeofself-aligning bearing is shown. The housing 55* is provided with anAinternal quasi-spherical bearing surface 56 and an open internallythreaded end 51.v A removable bearing-member 58 having an internalquasi-spherical bearing surface 59 is threaded into the end 51. A shaft60 has a conical sleeve 6I arranged there* on and locked into positionon said sleeve by a' screw threaded locking ring 62. The sleeve 6I has aslot 63 at its smaller end and vby turning locking ring 62 tightly ontothe threaded end of sleeve 6I a secure engagement between the shaft 5 60and the sleeve 6I is eected. Abearing ring 64 is slid onto sleeve 6I andis of course provided with an internal conical bore so as to cooperatewith the conical exterior surface of sleeve 6I. An outerrbearing ring65'has an external l0 curvature similar to that formed by the bearingsurfaces 56 and 58 and carries a ball race groove on its' inner surface.The roller balls travel in said ball race groove and an opposed ballrace groove in the exterior surface of ring 64. A retailler cage 61 hasgrease retainer rings secured to its outer ring 68 faces. A key 69 maybe employed in the base of housing 55 in a manner similar tothe key 52employed in connection with the device shown in Fig. 1.

Fig 5 illustrates in detail the ball retainer cage employed in thedevice shown in Fig. 3. The oppositely disposed retaining rings 10are-pref; erably secured together by rivets 1I having reducedends 12.'Ihe main bodies of the rivets thus separate the retaining rings and thereduced Y ends 12 extend outwardly from the outer faces of rings 10 aconsiderable distance. Grease retaining rings 68 may then be secured tothe rivets 1I by pressing said rings having appropriate rivet openings.therein onto said rivets and riveting the ends of said rivets. Ifdesired, felt retaining rings may be placed between the inner faces ofgrease retaining rings 68 and the outer faces of rings 16 and even moresecure grease retaining connection would then be effected.

A modied form of -the duplex bearing shown in Fig. l is illustrated inFig. 7 and the essential differences are as follows: The housing 13instead of being internally threaded at its open 'end is provided with aflange 14 in which are carried threaded openings for the reception ofclamping bolts 15. 'Ihe bearing member 16 has an interiorquasi-spherical bearing surface similar to the bearing member 2| but isnot provided with any means for attachment to the housing 13. A clampingplate 11 is employed for this purpose and carries a central annularshaft receiving opening. Appropriate shim material 18 is interposedbetween the inner face of clamping plate 11 andthe face of flange 14 sothat by removing some of said shim material the aligning members of thebearing may be taken up for wear. Keys 19 and 80 are similar inconstruction to keys 52and 53.

A modified 'form of removable bearing surfaceand bearing member` isshown in Fig. 10 and is made integrally to take the place of clampingplate 11 and bearing member 16. Thus the bearing member 8| carries alaterally extending 60 annular flange 82 having bolt openings 83. Acentral annular shaft opening 84 may carry a sealing ring groove 85. y

From the foregoing description it can readily be seen that I haveprovided a bearing in which the aligning surface is extremely large andone in which adjustment for wear may be readily made. In accomplishingthese objects I have eliminated parts and thus provided a device ofsimple construction. The results and advantages 70 of my device havebeen heretofore pointed out and' the reasons for thesame are nowapparent.l

My novel type of grease retainer is particularly well adapted for use ina self-aligning bearing and hence I have described it in connectionherewith. However,it is to be understood that my retainer may be usedwith other types of bearings to great advantage. vIts slight cost andhigh emciency adapt it for less costly installations than inself-aligning bearings.

While I have shown and described my preferred formsof construction I donot wish to be limited to the details herein shown, but wish to availmyself of all variations coming within the scope of the appended claims.l

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:

l. A device of the character described comprising a housing with an openend, a partial spherical bearing surface carried in said housing, aremovable bearing member having a partial spherical inner bearingsurface complementing the bearing surface of said housing, means forsecuring said bearing member to said housing, said means comprising aclamping plate bolted to said housing, an anti-friction bearing withinsaid housing and bearing member, said bearing including a sleeve havinga pair of frusto-conical races, a separating band between said races andhaving retaining grooves therein, and bearing rollers adapted to bear onsaid races. j

2. A device of the character described comprising a iiousing with anopen end, a partial spherical bearing surface carried in said housing,

a removable bearing member having a partial spherical inner bearingsurface complementing the bearing surface of said housing, means forsecuring said bearing member to said housing, said housing beingprovidedwith an opening, a locking collar located in said opening, ashaft keyed to said collar, said collar being provided with a tongue, abearing sleeve provided with a notch adapted to cooperate with saidtongue, said sleeve being provided with a pair of races and a band toseparate said races, said band having undercut shoulders, a pair ofopposed outer bearing rings provided with an exterior curvature similarto the bearing surface carried by said housing, anti-friction bearingsinterposed between said rings and said sleeve and adapted to ride insaid races, and aplurality of flanged frustro-conical separatingelements for said bearings, said separating elements being provided withslots through which the rollers are adapted to extend, means for keyingsaid ringsto the housing and bearing member. said means includinggrooves in the housing and bearing memberand keys for said rings.

3. A device of the character described comprising a housing with an openend, a partial spherical bearing surface carried in said housing, aremovable bearing member having a partial spherical inner bearingsurface complementing the bearing surface of said housing, means forsecuring said bearing member to said hout-- .with a ball race groove, anouter bearing ring having an internal curvature similar to' that of theinner surface of the housing and the removable bearing member, saidouter bearing having a ball race groove on its inner surface,anti-friction bearings interposed between said inner-bearing ring andsaid outer bearing ring, a retainer cage for retaining saidanti-friction bearings in spaced condition, said cage being providedwith double walled grease retainer rings.

4. A device of the character described comprising a housing with an openend, a partial spherical bearing surface carried in said housing, abearing member adapted to Vbe substantially inclosed Within said housingand having an internal spherical bearing surface complementing thebearing surface of the housing,

said bearing member having a laterally extend` ing' flat annular flangeand a central annular shaft opening provided with a sealing ring groove,

.said housing being provided with a threaded opening and said bearingmember being provided with an opening and clamping bolts adapted to beinserted in said openings, an anti-friction bearing Within said housingand bearingmember.

5. A device of the character described com- 3 spaced relation, saidmeans including a. bearing retainer cage comprising oppositely exposedretainer rings having' inwardly depressed portions vprovided withapertures, a plurality of rivets having reduced end portions adapted toextend through said apertures, and a grease retaining ring secured atthe end of each said rivet extension, said depressedportions forminggrease 4retaining vpockets with said grease retaining rings.

FREDERICK WILLIAM SCHEFFLER.

